The vagabond life comes with its hopes and failures, its wild joys and its lonely moonrises.  Fruition – Jay Cobb Anderson, Kellen Asebroek, Mimi Naja, Jeff Leonard, and Tyler Thompson – essentially became a band on the road, busking on sidewalks around all around America.  The product of easy serendipity and a shared love of adventure resulted in a life on the road, three full-length records, a few EPs, and most recently, the split-double album of Wild as the Night (released in November 2019) and Broken at the Break of Day (released in January 2020).  

Wild as the Night and Broken at the Break of Day are companion albums, exploring the age-old tensions between light and dark, night and day.  The music never fits tidily into a particular sound, though harmonies represent the most consistent thread.  Each record has a looseness to it, likely due to time constraints in the studio, that reflects their lauded live show. 

On Wild As the Night, they quickly establish a thematic strand that will continue into Broken at the Break of Day: one of love gained, love lost, love remembered, and love lamented.  They bounce between the upbeat and the downbeat readily, executing throughout. Beautiful rhythms and melodies abound, their shared gift for playing off each other shining.  

Mimi’s mandolin-playing especially sparkles, from “Forget About You” to “Manzanita Moonlight”, though well-complemented by Kellen’s work on the keys. Sonically, as previously mentioned, the sound shifts frequently, alternately influenced by folk, jazz, pop, and maybe even a few flashes of ‘grass. 

Fruition’s biggest claim to fame, though, is their live show. Every time they take to a stage, they tear it down.  Make sure to catch them at Union Stage in DC this Thursday with the incomparable Lindsay Lou opening.  If we’re especially lucky, maybe they’ll even take the stage together.